Court dismisses teen's suit against MySpace

News Corp.'s MySpace.com said on Wednesday a federal court dismissed a negligence lawsuit filed by the family of a teenage girl who was sexually assaulted by someone she met on the popular Internet social network.

Judge Sam Sparks of the U.S. District Court for the Western district of Texas granted MySpace's motion to dismiss the charges of negligence, fraud and negligent misrepresentation.

The high profile suit was filed last year by the family of the Austin, Texas, girl, who was attacked by a 19-year-old man she met on the Web site.

The suit and reports of other victims of predators made the popular service a target of child protection advocates. MySpace users share information about their lives by posting photos, blogs and videos.

In dismissing the suit, Judge Sparks said that as an "interactive service," MySpace was protected from materials posted on its site by the Communications Decency Act (CDA) of 1996. Sparks explained that the CDA is aimed at allowing Internet and other interactive services to continue to develop.

"To ensure that Web site operators and other interactive computer services would not be crippled by lawsuits arising out of third party communications, the Act provides interactive computer services with immunity," Sparks' ruling said.

Sparks noted also that the girl lied about her age, posing as an 18-year-old when she was only 13, and registered for an account. MySpace's minimum age requirement is 14. The girl's name was not divulged because of her age.

Adam Loewy, a partner in Austin-based law firm Barry & Loewy, who represented the family, said they planned to appeal the dismissal of the negligence charge and to refile charges of fraud and misrepresentation in a different court "in the very near future."

"We intend to fully prevail in this litigation," Loewy said.

MySpace separately faces several other lawsuits filed in state court in Los Angeles by families of teenage girl victims of predators they met on the service.

Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond, said the ruling could be "persuasive" to the remaining suits, which were filed in state court. But Sparks' decision in federal court would not be binding.

Family protection groups have criticized MySpace, saying the Rupert Murdoch-controlled company had failed to provide safeguards such as age verification rules to protect its large group of teen users.

Story Copyright © 2008 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.

[koster_jay]

Damn Straight

See, this is what I had hoped would happen.

It is not the service's fault that Barbie wanted to pretend to be a big girl, and Barbie found out that Ken was really just Back-Alley Bob.

Tragic what happened, but dammit, it's time for kids to realize that their actions have consequences.

[Leria]

Might realize that sooner if.....

They might realize that sooner if we didn't try to shield them from the negative effects of their actions, and didn't try to push the stupid 'religious sexual morality' that has been enshrined in laws on them.

Allow them to go up to people who they find attractive out in the open and ask them for sexual contacts, even at very young ages and even with adults.

Then, they will learn who are the dangerous people (usually the people who play the innocent act!) and who are the not dangerous people (usually the punks!).

Our own twisted sexual morality is leading to things like this happening! I am thankful that I taught my daughters that sexuality was normal and good, and taught them that it was THEIR RIGHT to ask anyone for a sexual encounter.

They haven't been sexually assaulted ONCE, except by a mentally deficient boy who was getting 'urges' after he hit puberty and didn't understand that forcing sexual touching on other people was wrong. That neither my daughters or I called 'sexual assault' and I sat down with the boy in question, had a talk with him, and taught him that you ASK a girl before touching them, no matter what their age, and wait for them to answer you.

[kyle172]

Myspace doesn't babysit

People need to take care of their own children myspace shouldn't have to babysit every single child in cyberspace. Parents need to set the limits

[fcekuahd]

STFU if you don't know what you're talking about

This isn't about MySpace babysitting children. It's about them taking reasonable precautions to ensure that predators can't use their site to contact kids.

Here's an example. At the Go Bananas play center, adults need to show ID and sign in when they take their children there. As a parent I think it's a great idea -- it ensures that you don't get random creeps walking in. Why not do the same thing for kid-oriented sites on the Internet?

And by the way, although I would like to see Internet sites take some responsibility for the actions they facilitate, I do believe this lawsuit was over the top.

[lwrules]

Sue the parents

Maybe someone should sue the parents for wasting the court's time. Get a clue mommy and daddy. This is YOUR responsibility, not MySpace's fault. I can't stand parents who try to pass the blame for their own inability to raise their kids, let alone trying to now PROFIT from it !!

[rorybaust]

Right decision dubious reason

It is so typical of the world these days that no one wants to take responsibility for there actions (If I tell a lie I should be responsible for the consequences), but what is worse is that want to profit from the wrong actions of others.

It?s like, ok you caught the bad guys and they got there thrill, where is the money for me? Because money heals all wounds !

and faceless organizations such as News, Google and any government body seem fair game, but really tell me what they did wrong apart from that they believed the response of some one that was doing what they wanted and forgot there may be consequences ( yea but My Space should have told me what could happen).


No ,now that?s the parents job.

I am glad that the right decision was reached however from reading the article it still seems for all the wrong reasons.

[brodie657]

This is why...

this country sucks sometimes. The fact that people see any opportunity for a quick buck is ridiculous.

I'm glad they shot this down because it would be a dangerous precedent if they had settled. Even a dating site like Match.com should not be liable if you willingly participate and the website does everything they can to protect you.

Now if myspace had accidentally posted the girl's address and information and this guy broke into her house to assault her, thats obviously a different story. But when you freely meet someone of your own volition, and then try to pass the blame back to someone else it sets a bad example.

Fully agree with everyone who talks about the lack of personal responsibility people have these days. Next she will be suing Anheuiser Busch because she was drunk when she got assaulted.

[SpiritMatter]

Kid Hurt Playing on Freeway, Parents Sue!

An imaginary headline that parallels the issue here.

Parents, not Big Brother, have the responsibility to teach their children whatever life skills they think are right. They, not Big Brother or Big Business, are also accountable for the results. If the kids decide to "dare to be stupid" then they, not the parents or Big Brother or Big Business, have to enjoy or suffer the consequences.

[ReVeLaTeD]

I say the girl should be punished

For lying about her age, and creating the danger she then was subjected to. She lied about her age because she WANTED to meet older men. Then when one acted naturally and under false pretenses, now she wants to play the victim. She created the danger; I say she should get nothing from anyone. I also think the guy shouldn't be punished, as he shouldn't have to check ID and credit to know how old a girl is versus how old she is portraying herself to be.

On the flip side, MySpace didn't do its due diligence. A 14 year old posing as an 18 year old? MySpace doesn't require anything to verify age, and that's a problem. Quite frankly I suggest they implement some controls to prevent this from happening, such a credit card or other. Since they won't, I say they're as much to blame for allowing the deception to happen.

[brodie657]

Ehhh

Although a credit card would prevent some users from signing up, it punishes the large 18+ majority user community. I am weary enough about sending my credit card to an e-commerce site, but myspace? It only takes one breach until they are sued for storing credit cards poorly.

Fact is myspace can only do so much to prevent underage users. Just like a bar can only due so much if a person wants to use a fake id - nothing is foolproof.

[fcekuahd]

The same standards should apply to the Internet...

that apply in the real world.

Sites that allow users to post interactive content should be required to confirm the user's identity. Minor should require parental consent to sign up. If MySpace took these steps, I would hold them blameless. As it is, they're clearly creating an attractive nuisance.

Get real people, these are children we're talking about here. They don't always think about the consequences of their actions.

[gggg sssss]

and how

would they know if she was a minor? Ask her? P*bic hair sample? They did ask and she said she was 18.

[RShea78]

Where were her parents?

This is a clear case where the parents need a wake up call.

If the parents cannot handle the girl, then the proper authorities (Child Protective Services) need to step in, and remove her from the neglecting parents.

Sounds like a textbook case of Child Neglect, IMHO.

[atekla]

On the otherhand ..Myspace lies about deleting minors

Myspace lies about deleting minors. If you see a minor that is lying about there age. When you report this minor to myspace they will not remove the profile unless the profile states the real age of the user. So if someone underage states that they are older and does not state there real age in the profile, myspace will not remove the profile.

Just as profiles that are links to porn sites. If you report such profiles to myspace they will not remove the profile and they will send you a notice from myspace that the profile has been removed when if fact they do not remove the porn related profile.